United Kingdom with kids

The Crown Jewels, the ravens and nine hundred years of executions, told by Yeoman Warders who are very good with children.

The high walkway with a glass floor over the road, plus the Victorian engine rooms. Twenty-four dollars and about an hour.

Wren's dome, and 528 steps to the top if anyone is willing. The Whispering Gallery is the part children remember.

Coronations since 1066 and a floor full of graves. Dense, and it needs an older child or a good audio guide.

Only open roughly July to September while the King is away. Book the moment dates are released.

Smaller and far calmer than Buckingham, with a good Victoria exhibition and a park outside for afterwards.

Henry VIII's kitchens, a real hedge maze and sixty acres of garden. The best full day out of the palaces.

The oldest occupied castle in the world, forty minutes out, with the Changing of the Guard on alternate days. Pairs with LEGOLAND next door.

In Regent's Park, with a walk-through monkey enclosure and a proper aquarium. Forty-three dollars.

The big country sister zoo, where you can drive your own car through part of it. An hour north and a full day.

Glasshouses, a treetop walkway and a children's garden that is the best free-range play space in London. Thirty-four dollars.

Entry is free — this is the guided tour. The blue whale in the main hall and the dinosaur gallery are the draws.

Also free to enter; the ticket buys a guide and headsets. The Rosetta Stone and the Egyptian rooms are what children come for.

Old buses and tube carriages you climb into, in Covent Garden. One of the few genuinely paid museums, and worth it under ten.

Stand on the meridian with a foot in each hemisphere, plus a planetarium. Combine with the boat down from Westminster.

A baroque ceiling painted over nineteen years, with mirrors and beanbags so you can look up without a sore neck. Twenty-four dollars.

The tallest viewpoint in western Europe, with an open-air deck at the top. Thirty-two dollars.

A glass lift up inside a power station chimney. Twenty-three dollars, quick, and quite unlike the other viewpoints.

The original, with a Marvel floor and a ride through London's history. Thirty-four dollars.

Four halls of projected paintings that move around you. Works on a four-year-old and a twelve-year-old equally.

The safest West End choice with children — puppetry, and the opening number does the work. Book weeks ahead.

The Studio Ghibli stage adaptation, with puppets built by the Jim Henson workshop. Twenty-five dollars and very hard to get.

Songs everyone knows and nothing to follow. Twenty-seven dollars, which for the West End is remarkable.

The Making of Harry Potter — the actual sets, the Great Hall, Diagon Alley and the model castle. Three to four hours, and it sells out six weeks ahead.

A full outdoor park with Miniland and proper rides. Aimed at the under-tens and a whole day.

A theme park with a whole Peppa Pig land, ninety minutes south-west. Squarely for preschoolers and worth the drive if you have one.

A walk-through show with actors and a 4D bus ride, on the South Bank. Ninety minutes and aimed young.

Half an hour in a glass capsule over the Thames. Thirty-seven dollars, and the queue is the real cost — book a timed slot.

A guided walk that gets you to the right railing at the right time, nineteen dollars. Doing this unguided usually means seeing the back of a crowd.

Across the Thames at Greenwich for eighteen dollars. Ten minutes, cheap, and a genuine thrill for a small child.

A hop-on pass on the commuter catamarans — fifteen dollars, and far and away the best value transport in the city.

Open-top loops of the main sights with a river cruise included. Useful on day one before anyone knows where anything is.

A bus tour written for children, with games and a guide who plays along. Thirty-two dollars and mercifully short.

Leadenhall Market, the Millennium Bridge and the rest, on foot. Good filler between the studio tour and the rest of the trip.

A harnessed climb over the roof of the dome. Minimum age and height apply and are enforced.

Dressing rooms, tunnel and pitchside at Chelsea, forty-three dollars. A fraction of a match ticket and children prefer it.

Tea and cakes on the top deck of a Routemaster while it drives the sights. Sixty-six dollars and solves two things at once.

Two hours west, with Windsor and Bath as options on the same day. The stones are roped off — the visitor centre is what makes it land.

A castle with jousting and trebuchet displays, plus Shakespeare's Stratford and the villages. The most child-shaped day trip from London.

Honey-coloured villages and a pub lunch. Lovely, slow, and wasted on a child who wanted another theme park.

Both university cities in one long day. Worth it for an older child; the punting tours from each city are the better version.

Over a hundred attractions on one ticket. London's individual tickets are dear enough that this often does pay — add yours up first.

On the volcanic crag above the city, with the Scottish crown jewels and the one o'clock gun. Book the timed slot.

The King's official Scottish residence at the foot of the Royal Mile, with Mary Queen of Scots' chambers. Thirty dollars.

Streets buried under the city, guided in character. Genuinely atmospheric and a bit much for under-nines.

Actors, jump scares and a drop ride. Officially eight-plus and realistically ten-plus — it is designed to frighten.

A loop of the old and new towns. The city is steep and this spares a lot of legs.

A ferry from the Clyde to an island often called Scotland in miniature. From Glasgow rather than Edinburgh.

A short boat to a seal colony on Loch Linnhe. Sightings are usually good and the boat keeps its distance.

The Scott Monument, the Camera Obscura and the bus, on one ticket. Thirty-five dollars.

A choice of the city's paid attractions. Worth it if the castle and two more are already on your list.

Twelve hours for the loch, Glencoe and the scenery between. Long, and the landscape genuinely earns it.

The Hogwarts Express viaduct, with the steam train crossing it if the timing works. Check the timetable before booking.

Actually riding the train over the viaduct rather than watching it. Expensive, sells out months ahead, and it is the real thing.

From Inverness rather than Edinburgh, and worth planning a night north for. The Fairy Pools walk is rough underfoot.

Stirling, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs in a day, seventy-nine dollars. Shorter than the Loch Ness run and cheaper.

The main Beatles museum on the Albert Dock, with an audio guide. Twenty-seven dollars and the obvious first stop.

The actual gates, with an exhibition and a working charity behind it. Eighteen dollars and quieter than the museums.

The underground wartime command bunker, left much as it was. Twenty-two dollars and rarely busy.

A bus round Penny Lane, Strawberry Field and the childhood homes, ending at the Cavern. Thirty dollars.

Fifty minutes across and back with commentary, nineteen dollars. Cheap, and the skyline from the water is the point.

Hop-on bus plus the ferry on one ticket, thirty-six dollars. The efficient way to do a short stop.

The tunnel, the dressing rooms and the This Is Anfield sign, plus the museum. Thirty-five dollars against four hundred for a match.

Walk the actual cobbles of the set. Only lands if someone in the family watches it — otherwise it is a street.

Windermere, a lake cruise and the fells, on a guided day from Liverpool. Ninety-six dollars with the driving handled.

The same region approached from the other city. Pick whichever you are actually staying in.

Actors and jump scares, same format as Edinburgh's. Ten-plus in practice.

York built Rowntree's and Terry's, and this is the guided tour with tastings and a lolly to make. Thirty dollars.

Forty-five minutes through the city with commentary, twenty-one dollars. Restful after the walls.

Hire a small boat and drive it yourself for an hour. Sixty-one dollars for the boat, not per person, and children steer.

The Shambles is widely held to be the model for Diagon Alley. Nine dollars, ninety minutes, and cheerfully speculative.

Built on the slipway where she was launched, and it tells the shipyard story as much as the sinking. Thirty-six dollars.

The real sets and costumes at Banbridge. The show is emphatically not for children — this is for a twelve-year-old who already watches it, or for you.

The royal residence in Northern Ireland, with a hundred acres of garden to run in. Fifteen dollars.

The loop takes in the peace walls and the murals, and the commentary does not avoid them. Twenty-six dollars.

Forty thousand hexagonal basalt columns, plus Dunluce Castle and the Dark Hedges. Sixty-eight dollars and the best day here.